


When we've fallen in the dark

by KrazySuperGirl



Series: Billions of Beautiful Hearts [8]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: American Sign Language, Autistic Cass, Baby Batkids, Batfamily (DCU), Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Bruce does not like this, Canonical Child Abuse, Cass is a feral assassin child, Cass is adoorable, Cass like soft sweaters, Cullen is sweet, David Cain can die please, Gen, Minor Character Death, Morally Ambiguous Talia al Ghul, No editing we die like the Waynes, Past Talia al Ghul/Bruce Wayne, Protective Bruce Wayne, because we dont come back, possibly, who doesn't understand love or why Bruce cares about her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:14:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24442657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KrazySuperGirl/pseuds/KrazySuperGirl
Summary: The man waves his hand at her, beckoning her to follow. Then he turns around and walks towards the van, the little boy in his arms. He doesn’t look back, letting Cass choose whether to follow, though he keeps half his attention on her, waiting to see what she’ll do.The boy in his arms knows he is safe.She follows.(Or: Cass finds Bruce, Bruce finds Cass, and Cass gets a home.)
Relationships: Bruce Wayne & His Children, Cassandra Cain & Bruce Wayne
Series: Billions of Beautiful Hearts [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1624645
Comments: 44
Kudos: 453





	When we've fallen in the dark

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [babey cass](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/626422) by jerseydevious. 



> Oh, wow. This is a monster of a fic that got out of hand. It's 12k!
> 
> This one has a lot of Cass' POV, so it's a bit different from the other fics in this series. Because of that, it's a lso different in tone and style. One thing I think I will need to clarify, is the reason Cass uses her name when referring to herself before she gets her name. The reason is that, when Cass gets her name, and she learns it, it means *her*. It's referring to herself, and so to her, it's basically just the verbal word for the concept of herself, which she already uses. Sorry if I'm not explaining this well. I am trying.
> 
> This fic required some research. In real life, Cass would not be quite so well adjusted. There was actually a girl who went through something similar, i.e. being raised without learning to communicate, and I did refer to that when I was writing this. Since this is fiction, not everything is realistic, but here's the link if you want to look at what would actually be realistic.
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genie_(feral_child)
> 
> This is an ASL dictionary, if you want to check that out. I do describe some signs, and hopefully that is somewhat understandable.
> 
> https://www.lifeprint.com/index.htm
> 
> Another thing is that I realised partway through that my Cass might be autistic. I don't know much about autism, so my depiction might be inaccurate. If it is, or even if you just want to chat about it, please go ahead and leave a comment. This is the main website I used for research.
> 
> https://autisticadvocacy.org/about-asan/about-autism/
> 
> For reference, the kids ages are: Dick 14/15, Jason 9/10, Steph 7, Tim 6/7, Harper 5, Cullen 3. Cass is around the same age as Jason, possibly a bit older.

Talia has been invited by David Cain to observe and take part in a couple training sessions with his daughter. And while she watches him train his daughter, something unsettled rests in her gut. The man suddenly swings out his arm, hitting the girl and throwing her off-balance from the stance she had taken up while facing her opponent. Her opponent takes the opportunity given to him and gets a hit in, but she recovers quickly and blocks the several next blows. 

She keeps a closer eye on her father after that.

Whatever mistake she had made, she doesn’t do it again, because Cain remains impassive towards the girl for the rest of the training session. The session ends when some unspoken signal is given by Cain, and his daughter delivers the last few blows to incapacitate her opponent. He sends her off with little more than a glance.

“She fights well.” Talia says afterwards.

“Yes.” Cain agrees. “She is ready to progress. A duel with you will be my final measure of her abilities. Then I can make use of her. She will be a fine asset for your father.”

Talia is sure she will be. She fights flawlessly, even at such a young age. But Talia can’t get that training session out of her mind. She keeps thinking about David Cain and his training methods, through the rest of the day and on to the next.

Early the next day, she takes Damian to her father. Ra’s al Ghul has ordered that his heir begin training. Damian is only a year old. Her father inspects the infant with the barest minimum of interest. Then Talia takes him to the training salles. There, his tutors are beginning to train him in such things as basic fighting form. 

The tutors are not kind. They teach Damian solely because their Master has ordered them to. They are under no obligation to coddle him. They do not dare abuse him either, though. Not with Talia watching. Ra’s knows of her...attachment to her son. He is indulging her for now, and Damian’s tutors are also under order not to cause her displeasure with their methods. Talia hopes her son learns well so that they do not have reason to be overly harsh with him when her father rescinds that order.

For some reason, Talia’s mind flashes briefly to the memories of David Cain’s daughter. Talia pushes them back and focuses instead on her son’s training.

Later in the day, Talia finds Cain for the promised duel. She faces off against the man’s daughter, and they fight. Talia knows right away that she will not win. Cain’s daughter has been raised to have a near-superhuman proficiency in reading people. She knows what move Talia will make before she even makes it, and that makes her nearly unbeatable, but Talia enjoys the challenge, and the chance to test both their skills.

When the match ends with the girl victorious, Cain gives the barest hint of a nod of approval. Then he calls for one of the servants. The man brings in someone whose hands are tied up. When he sees Cain, the barest flicker of fear crosses his face, but when Cain unties him and indicates that he is to fight his daughter, the fear disappears. He doesn't know anything about the girl. He is overconfident, and Talia knows this fight will be short.

It is short, and in no time at all, Cain’s daughter is standing victorious over his defeated form. Then Cain makes a few sharp movements with his hands. He shows his daughter where to direct a nerve strike on the defeated man. The girl obeys, and as she does so, Talia realizes that Cain ordered her to perform a killing strike.

As soon as the girl’s hand leaves the man’s neck, he collapses, nothing more than a corpse. The girl stares at him, frozen in place, as he twitches one last time then dies.

Her eyes are wide in horror. She lets out a shocked whimper that, from any other child would have been a full-blown scream. She looks up at Talia and Cain. She searches her father’s uncaring face, and he has a small smile of approval.

She runs.

With a growl, her father chases after her, but she’s too fast. She disappears within seconds.

Cain is unconcerned. He tells Talia she’ll return eventually, or else be found. There is no way out of the compound for her after all. She would either have to figure out how to drive a truck or how to survive in the desert for weeks.

Talia, for her part, tries to put the incident out of her mind. Her father is sending her on an errand in America, and she must leave within the hour.

But she gets a shock when she realizes that stowed away in the truck she takes out of the compound, is none other than Cain’s daughter. Talia knows that she should turn back and take the girl back to her father. But for a split second, she imagines Damian in the girl’s position.

Father would be displeased if Talia was delayed in her errand.

Talia does not turn back. She keeps driving. She does not decide to let the girl stay, only keeps driving and says nothing.

When she gets to the airport, the girl hesitantly follows her into the plane, and the two travel together to America under an unspoken agreement.

* * *

  
  


Cass sneaks through the shadows into the shelter of the alley. She had gotten lucky. The man she saved from being mugged had given her some food, an apple and a granola bar, as repayment, which meant she wouldn't go hungry today, but it wouldn't last long. She’d have to go looking for food again later. For now though, Cass eats her apple, feet dangling from a fire escape, with only the far-off light shining against the clouds as illumination. 

Cass decides to save the granola bar for later and pockets it. Then, a shadow flies over the alley. Cass looks up, and sees a man in a dark costume and cape, jumping across the gap and landing expertly on the next roof over.

Her curiosity piqued, Cass gets up and climbs to the roof to follow. It’s not easy. The man is good, but Cass enjoys the challenge. He has a tool, some sort of rope, that lets him swing across the larger distances, but Cass is fast and agile. She can climb down to street level then back up again without losing him. He stops every so often, and that is probably the only reason she can still follow. When he stops, he sweeps his gaze over the city, watching the people below. His costume muffles the signs of his body somewhat, but even from far away, his stance screams _protective_.

There’s a scream, and Cass spins towards it. On one hand, someone could need help. On the other hand, Cass has been in this city for weeks now, and there is never not any screaming. And, she badly wants to learn more about the strange man.

Cass turns back around, but in the split second she had turned her head, the man is gone. She can see no signs of him at all. She feels a twinge of disappointment, but focuses on the scream instead.

She finds the source easily. It’s a big group of over half a dozen burly men grabbing a struggling little boy. There is a beat-up van blocking the exit to the alley, and Cass can just barely make out unmoving lumps through the open doors at the back of the van.

Suddenly, the van rocks to one side, a projectile embedded in the tires, causing the air to hiss out. The men all snap sharply on alert, the same terror that they had caused in the boy now colouring their bodies. 

Smoke starts spreading among them, and a shadowy shape drops down on them. Something vaguely human deposits the boy outside the smoke cloud before disappearing again. Cass hears only the sounds of thuds and cries of pain and the boy’s sniffling.

Then the smoke starts to clear, and Cass can see the same shape moving among the mass of bodies. Over half of them are on the ground, and the man from the rooftops is a whirlwind, fighting and dodging, taking the rest down relentlessly. A burning rage fuels his every movement, and he moves fast enough that Cass has to actually focus to keep track of his actions.

As he’s taking down the last two men, one of the men on the ground stirs. He pulls himself to his hands and knees and faces the little boy. Cass can read the intent in his stance, and before he can take a single step towards the boy, she scrambles down from the roof she was watching on, and she tackles him, taking him out with a carefully-aimed punch. She feels a flash of fear, and she watches the fallen man for a few seconds, just to be sure she hadn’t killed him.

She turns around, and the man in the costume is just pulling his arm back from the punch that took down the last man. As he turns away from the men on the ground, the anger fades, or maybe it is just hidden, tucked away. 

His eyes pass from the man on the ground, to Cass, and then to the boy behind her. His stance softens, until even the armor of his suit can’t muffle the _soft-inviting-protective_ . The little boy runs past Cass straight into the man’s arms, sobbing against his chest. The man puts his arm around the boy, all _gentle, safety, comfort_. 

Then he stretches out a hand to her, and says something with his mouth. Cass doesn’t understand, so she tilts her head to one side. His body says _come, safe, help, protect_. He says something with his mouth again, but it means nothing to her.

She steps closer carefully, still out of reach, then stops. He still holds his hand out to her, ever patient, but she plants her feet. He nods, then looks her over, and she sees something that she thinks is concern. Is he concerned that she’ll be a bother?

She changes her posture, makes it small and unassuming. Then he reaches into a pouch on his belt. He wants to give her something. He pulls something from the belt, and leans forward to put it on the ground between them. It is small, in a shiny wrapper. It looks like food. He steps back to give her space.

She watches him. He is watching her, waiting patiently. She steps forward gingerly. The man doesn’t move. Again, she steps forward, and again, and then she is within reach of the food. She grabs it quickly and backs away. She examines the food. It looks like a granola bar. She pockets it and turns her attention back to the man.

The man waves his hand at her, beckoning her to follow. Then he turns around and walks towards the van, the little boy in his arms. He doesn’t look back, letting Cass choose whether to follow, though he keeps half his attention on her, waiting to see what she’ll do.

The boy in his arms knows he is safe.

She follows.

He opens the van doors wider, and shifts the lumps inside to reveal more children. He does something with his hands, putting them on the children’s necks and faces, and his body says _concern-worry-fear-protect_. With every child he touches, his fear ebbs away little by little. Cass edges just a little closer, and she sees his hand going to pulse points and hovering over mouths and noses. He opens their eyes too.

Cass is a little confused. This is how somebody confirms whether a person is alive. Can he not see that their bodies still have life, still have movement?

Regardless, with every life confirmed, he seems to be happier and less afraid.

Then, one of the men on the ground groans. The masked man’s head snaps to the sound. He puts the boy he was holding down, and says something quiet to him, some little order. Then he sweeps across the alley to loom over the man who is waking up.

The anger is back, and he directs it at the man beneath him. When he makes noise with his mouth, it sounds low and animalistic, a demand and a threat. The other man is quaking, and offers little resistance. In barely any time at all, he is babbling something that Cass thinks would be hard to understand even for someone who wasn't her. It seems to satisfy the man in the costume though, and he sprays something at the scared man, causing him to fall back to sleep.

The costumed man drops him, then ties up his hands and feet. Then he does the same for the rest of the men. When he’s done, he taps the side of his head and talks again, but Cass doesn’t know who he’s talking to. She does know he’s ordering, or maybe reporting.

Then he goes back to the little boy. He says things with his mouth in a low tone that ebbs and flows gently in contrast to the cacophony of the city around them. He is _soft-kind-helping_ , and the little boy is relaxing, with full trust in the man.

Or, or maybe not the man. Not the flesh-and-blood person under the cape. Maybe it’s the cape itself, the mask and the symbol. The little boy’s eyes travel to it constantly, and his trust is not the learned kind, not the kind given to a person, but rather to a story. And the men earlier had become terrified at the mere sound of a cape.

Cass steps closer carefully. The symbol on the man’s chest is a wide pointy black shape on a yellow oval. It’s the same shape as the light in the sky. It looks a bit like a bird.

No, not a bird. Something with wings, something that flies, but not a bird. It’s something else, some other animal.

Oh! Cass remembers now! She remembers the little furry animal that flies in caves. She remembers that some people are scared of them.

So this man pretends to be a little flying animal to scare people? No, that’s not quite right. To save people? Maybe. It’s a symbol, something that means something else. What _does_ it mean though? Cass is very curious. This Bat Man is very confusing and interesting.

Then the sound of the cars with the flashing lights comes closer. The Bat Man hears it, and he says a few last things to the little boy, then pulls out some sort of tool from his belt. He waves for Cass to follow, then swings himself up onto the roof. He wants to hide.

She follows at a safe distance. 

He wants to hide, but he is not afraid. She watches him as he crouches at the edge of the roof. He is watching over the boy and the other children in the van as the cars with the flashing lights get closer. He reads as _watch, protect, safety, guard, assurance_.

Then he turns to look at her. She tilts her head, evaluating his intentions. Then he takes more food out of his belt. He puts it on the ground between them and waits for her to pick it up. She does, looking between him and the food confusedly. Why is he giving her food again? Not that she isn’t glad, but Cass doesn’t understand why.

He takes his own food and unwraps it. He says something short with his mouth, and gestures to her. Then he takes a bite of the bar in his hands, and gestures to her again. He wants her to eat? Cass is still confused. Doesn’t he know that it’s better to ration food?

Except he apparently has plenty. Maybe his ration sizes are just bigger. So she obliges him, unwrapping her own food and eating it, watching him all the while. He appears pleased about that, though Cass can see an undercurrent of sadness. Why is he sad? Did she do something bad?

No. Cass doesn’t think that’s it. Did something happen? Now that Cass has noticed it, she remembers that sadness being there from the moment the fight in the alley ended. Cass thinks that might be what the anger had turned into after it left. Is he sad because of the children that the men tried to hurt? That makes sense, but why is he sad now, when he’s looking at her?

For a moment, they just watch each other. The man is curious too. Curious about Cass? Maybe it’s just because he doesn’t know her. What’s that gesture Cass sees people do? The one that tells each other they know them? It doesn’t always work for people, but maybe it will work this time.

Cass raises her arm and waves it back and forth a few times.

The man smiles and then copies her. He is happy now, but he’s still curious too. Cass frowns slightly. Well, at least it made him smile. She smiles back tentatively, and his own smile widens. Then his attention is drawn back to the people on the street below.

The cars with the flashing lights have arrived, and people are getting out of them and going to the children. The little boy is not afraid of them, and their bodies read as _help-duty-urgency-efficiency_ . The Bat Man’s reads as _satisfied_. 

The people from the blocky red and white cars go to the children, and they do the same things as the Bat Man did to them, except they have shiny little lights too, that they shine at the children’s eyes. 

The people from the regular shaped cars go to the men who are unconscious on the ground. Some of the blocky car people go to them too, and then the men are picked up and put in the regular shaped cars.

Some regular car people go over to the children and they talk to the little boy that is awake. Cass doesn’t know what they’re talking about, but one of the men stands out. The rest of the people who came with him don’t like him, but they aren’t focused on him, and are focused on the children instead. Then the man grabs the little boy’s arm. The other adults don’t notice. He is _impatience, disdain, hate_ , and the little boy is panicking now. The man looks just like the men from earlier.

Cass looks over at the Bat Man. Doesn’t he notice? The little boy is afraid, and there is another bad man! The Bat Man isn’t looking at the man and the boy. Cass has to do something!

She scrambles down the fire escape and launches herself at the man who was scaring the little boy. The other people startle and back away, but she is focused on that man. She attacks him, and he is stunned, but before she can actually knock him out, the Bat Man steps in front of her.

He is confused. He wants her to stop, and he’s a little bit upset at her. He says something to her with his mouth.

Cass growls low in her throat. She thought he cared. She thought he wanted to help people, but now he’s stopping Cass from helping the little boy.

So she fights.

She attacks, but he doesn’t fight back. Not really, not at first. He doesn’t want to fight her, but Cass is confused. Cass is confused, and she is hurt. She is angry.

She thought the Bat Man was good.

She keeps fighting, and eventually the Bat Man realizes that she can beat him, and starts to fight back. But she’s weak. All these months of no training and not enough food have left her with her skills, but not enough muscle mass to back them up.

Not long after, when her limbs are shaking and her lungs are burning, the air starts to grow heavy. Cass realizes too late that it’s because of some sort of gas. Just before she passes out, she sees a young woman, or an older teenager who also has the Bat symbol on her chest standing next to the Bat Man.

* * *

Batman catches the little girl as she collapses, and she is little. She’s _tiny_. She looks like she might be just a little younger than Jason, but she’s smaller than Tim, who is a bit small for his own age.

She looks starving, she is grimy and her bones stick out. Yet, she had fought better than anyone Bruce had ever met. It was only because Barbara had been able to arrive unnoticed and spray her with knockout gas that she had been taken down at all. Bruce thinks she could have gotten away eventually if that hadn't happened.

Barbara looks at him, “Who is she?” she asks, “And what happened to her?”

Bruce doesn’t know. He had recognized her fighting style. It had several elements taken from the League of Assassins, and too many from David Cain specifically. Except there was something completely unique about it too. However this girl had learned to fight, she was definitely exceptional. Good enough that it seemed like she knew what he was going to do before he even did it.

But that knowledge leaves a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. What would she have had to have gone through to be able to fight like that? And it looks like she has been living on the streets for a while. She is definitely severely malnourished, the worst case Bruce has seen in a while.

And she hadn't understood him at all. He had tried speaking to her in as many languages as he could, but she had understood none. She seemed to understand his body language well, but there was no recognition when he spoke. She wasn't deaf, so maybe she just spoke a language Bruce didn't know. But then again, she hadn't even tried to speak to him.

And then there’s the matter of why she had attacked the policeman. He looks over to the group of people. When the little girl had attacked, everyone had scattered. It doesn’t look like anyone was hurt during the course of the fight though. Bruce turns to the little boy from earlier. When he asks him if he’s okay, the little boy answers, “Uh-huh. The man was scary, but the ninja girl hit him.”

So she saw that and decided to act. Bruce isn’t all that surprised. Even after several years of Batman, there is still a significant number of corrupt city officials, especially police officers. And when he glances over at the police officer in question, the man spits, “Little bitch.”

Bruce hadn’t thought there would be anybody that would try anything, especially here with an arrest made by the Batman. He had still watched over the police when they arrived, even though he didn’t expect anything to happen. And he hadn’t noticed at all, even when something _did_ happen.

Bruce feels really bad about that. And he has a feeling the little girl won’t trust him easily either. Bruce messed up on this one. He grimaces.

He adjusts his hold on the unconcious girl so he can grab his grappling gun. He and Batgirl swing up to the rooftops and make their way to the Batmobile. Bruce tells her, “I’m going to take her back to the Batcave. Do you want to come?”

She nods. “Sure. I think I’m done patrolling for the night.”

They get to the Batmobile, and Bruce gives the girl to Barbara to hold while he drives. He calls ahead to the Cave to warn Alfred of their arrival. He doesn’t want to spook the girl with more people.

When they get home, Alfred has cleared everybody from the Cave and has left behind some food and water and a spare bed set up with blankets and sheets. Bruce puts the girl on the bed. Then he changes out of everything except the basic bodysuit part of the costume. Barbara changes into some spare clothing that she keeps in the Cave.

Bruce waits by the girl’s bedside for her to wake up and Barbara fills out some reports on the cases she’s working on. Bruce tries to figure out a way to communicate with the girl while he waits. He could try sign language, but even if she is mute or hard of hearing, there’s no guarantee she’ll understand it. In case it doesn't work, Bruce decides to draw some pictures to show her too.

Eventually, the girl’s breathing starts to change. She wakes up quickly, and between one second and the next, her eyes snap open and she stumbles off the bed and away from Bruce.

She sways from how abruptly she had risen, and Bruce starts to lean forward to steady her, but he catches himself. She stares him down, eyes flicking off to the side every so often to observe her surroundings.

* * *

Cass faces the strange man warily. He has taken off most of the costume, but he’s obviously still the same man. His face is younger than she had expected, with soft lines around his mouth and eyes. His face is very expressive, and it isn't a surprise that he wears a cowl to cover it up. Showing a lot of emotion is a weakness.

Without the cowl though, she can almost read him from his eyes alone. Right now, he is concerned and he wants to help her. Why, Cass doesn’t know. He tried to stop her earlier.

She narrows her eyes at him, hoping to convey her distrust. It causes a flare of sadness and remorse in him. He starts to make shapes with his hands.

Cass doesn’t know what he’s doing, but she does know he wants to fix something. He is...showing himself? Explaining himself? He is introducing himself. He wants that to make something better.

When she only responds a little bit to the hand shapes, he gets disappointed. He takes a piece of paper and shows it to her. It has shapes on it, and they make a simple picture. Cass examines the picture. It looks like a person, and it is wearing something that looks like what the people in the regular shaped cars with the flashing lights wear.

He points to the person in the picture and makes a very angry face. Is the person supposed to be the man from earlier?

Then he points to her and makes a fist towards the picture of the man. Then he points to himself, then to his eyes, then to the picture of the man while shaking his head. He points to himself then touches his forehead while shaking his head again.

Cass thinks she might understand now. He’s trying to say that he didn’t see what the man was doing, and he didn’t think, or didn’t understand. Then he makes a fist and moves it in a circle against his chest. His whole body says, _I’m sorry_ . Then he points to himself and makes two fists and crosses them then points towards her, then does the circle movement again. He makes a specific face both times he does that movement. Does that movement mean _sorry_? It seems like he’s saying sorry for fighting her.

The Bat Man only fought her after she attacked him. Is he still saying sorry for that? Shouldn’t Cass be the one saying sorry? She raises her hands and carefully copies the shapes he had made.

He makes both his hands flat, one of them in front of him, palm facing up, and the other one, he touches its side to the palm of the first then raises it. Cass doesn’t know what that means, but from what the rest of him is saying, she thinks it means he accepts her apology.

Then the man gives some sort of signal, and somebody else comes closer. It’s the young woman from earlier. She is carrying something. A plate with food on it and a glass of water. She puts the plate down and offers Cass the glass of water. Cass takes the glass carefully while still staying as far away as possible.

The red-haired woman has no malice in her, merely wants to help, but she also looks very sharp, like she knows a lot, and is also a very capable fighter. Cass decides to drink the water slowly. Her father poisoned her water sometimes to test her, and she doesn't want to have a large amount of poison entering her system all at once if that’s what these people have decided to do.

That decision is quickly abandoned as soon as she starts drinking. She is suddenly reminded that she hasn't had a drink in a long time. Even only slightly clean water is hard to find on the streets. Much harder to find than little scraps of food. She had had a container to gather rainwater in, but she had lost it a few days ago. She tastes nothing off about the water that is given her, so her reservations disappear and she gulps down the water thirstily.

* * *

Bruce watches the girl drink the water with worry settling in his chest. He doesn’t know anything about what happened to this girl, but he doesn’t like it. He really doesn’t like it. 

He decides that he should probably introduce her to the rest of the family now. She’ll meet them eventually, but if he leaves it, it might not end well. It’s probably best for him to introduce them now when he can control the interaction somewhat and make sure nothing gets out of hand. He goes upstairs, where he finds everyone hovering around the study. 

Jason asks anxiously, “What happened? Why’d Alfie kick us out of the Cave?”

“Bruce says, “Nothing bad happened. Babs and I are fine. We found a little girl though. I didn’t want to spook her, so I asked Alfred to bring you all up here.”

He tells them a bit about her, “She’s a young girl, possibly with a League of Assassins background. She doesn’t speak, or understand speech, and she’s very skittish, probably traumatized.” He addresses the kids specifically, “I’m going to introduce you to her, and you have to be very calm and kind. I don’t want to scare her.”

They all agree and promise to be good, so Bruce brings them down. On the way down, he tells Alfred, “She seems to understand body language best, and when I used sign language, she understood better than when I spoke to her. I think I’m going to try to teach it to her, and to the kids.”

“That would be a good idea, Master Bruce. We will need to be able to communicate with her if she is to stay here. I assume she will be staying with us?”

Bruce doesn’t answer. Instead he says, “She has a lot of issues. And I say that without even a basic knowledge of what happened in her life.”

Alfred adds, “But you are willing to help her.”

“But will I be _able_ to?” Bruce asks uncertainly.

Alfred looks over at him. “You have not failed your children so far. I have confidence that you can help this child as well.” he tells his charge earnestly.

“I wish I had your confidence.” Bruce says ruefully.

“You’ll be alright, Master Bruce.” Alfred reassures him.

Bruce gives him a tiny smile, and they reach the area of the girl’s makeshift bed.

* * *

Cass watches a group of six kids enter the cave. Behind them, the Bat Man and an older man follow. The few times she has met children, Cass has found them easy to read. Their feelings are often simple, and show plainly in their bodies and their faces.

These kids aren't much different. They are all nervous to different extents. Cass hopes whatever they’ve been told to do isn't too hard. They seem nice.

But they’re also curious. Every one of them wants to meet her. They seem like they are hoping for something. Do they expect her to do something? It also looks like they like her. But that’s just weird. Why would they like her already? They aren't wary of her. Their...father must not have told them that they fought.

Cass would continue that train of thought, but it’s derailed by the observation that the Bat Man is their father. Cass almost hadn't realized it at first. As soon as he had come into view several steps behind his children, it was obvious something had changed.

It had taken Cass a moment, but then she had realized it was love. The Bat Man’s body was _filled_ with love. Surrounded by his family, it is practically blinding.

The kids are not talking, but they are loud in other ways. They are talking, chattering to the Bat Man. He responds unconsciously, and talks back to them. Cass watches, enraptured, as he makes countless little motions, a brush of his hand against one of the boys’ shoulder, a ruffle of someone’s hair, a quick meeting of the eyes with another. And they smile back, reflecting his love back at him with astounding brilliance and clarity.

This is father-love. Cass knows this. She has seen it in her own father. But Cass is confused. This love is so soft, and so...loud. It is so different from what she’s seen before that she almost didn’t recognize it. It floods every muscle in his body, and he practically _glows_ with it. And his children are so happy. The joy and the love in their faces rings clear and true, pure and undiluted.

They must have done something amazing, for him to look at them like that. It’s so much, they must have done something truly wonderful.

Except, they haven’t done anything. They’re just...there. Just there, waiting for their father to catch up. Maybe it was something they said? Or maybe it was something they did earlier? They must have done something very very well for that feeling to last so long for him.

And then there’s the Bat’s father. The older man is definitely his father. There’s that _pride, mine,_ that Cass knows fathers feel for children, as well as the _love, protect, care,_ that the Bat is also showing, but the older man is also putting on an act of _service, deference._ It’s not _fake_ exactly, just...exaggerated? No, it’s the _duty_ that is fake. He’s pretending the care comes from duty. Why?

And the Bat is coming closer to Cass now. He is being cautious, careful. Why? He’s worried. Worried about her? He waves to her. She waves back. Then he says something short, and one of the kids steps forward.

He’s the oldest, and he has _motion_ practically engraved into his bones. He hasn't stopped moving for even a second, but still has a steady rhythm to it all. His wave to her is infused with joy and excitement and a bit of apprehension. He wants to get along with her, but that is all Cass can tell. She isn't used to seeing people this friendly, and the nuances of their feelings are escaping her.

The next one who waves at her is more reserved. He is solid and steady, but his emotions are loud. He is sad for her, and all Cass can understand is that she reminds him of something. His sadness is crystal, though. It turns sharp and angry, and Cass might be worried because of that, but it’s different from the kind of angry that hurts people. Cass doesn’t know how it’s different, but she can tell that he cares.

Then a girl waves at her. She is uncertain, but bold. She is new and unsure of her place, but she wants that place, and she is hopeful. Cass doesn’t know what she’s hopeful about, but she thinks it has to do with Cass herself. She wants to be friends with Cass too, and she has a lot of determination in that want.

The boy that waves at Cass next is clinging to his family members without actually touching them. He is staying as close as possible to as many people as possible, and when he looks at Cass, there is almost nothing except curiosity. He wants to know her, and Cass wonders why he wants her among the people he considers family.

The other girl of the group is all interest too. She wants to play with Cass. She looks like she has lots of different ideas about Cass, and what she could do with the family. She is visibly holding back that enthusiasm though. She’s nervous. Something to do with Cass? Cass would say the little girl doesn't want Cass to be scared, but that would be weird.

The littlest boy is quiet. He waves at Cass calmly, with a happy smile. He’s excited, and mainly just happy because of the new person. But he also wants Cass to be happy. Does he not think Cass is happy? Or is he just afraid that something might make her not be happy?

Cass tentatively waves at them all, carefully watching every one of them. She steps back as she does so, a bit overwhelmed. Immediately, the Bat notices. He is worried a bit now. Cass hopes he knows she won’t just attack his children because they’re loud. 

She wishes she could take back that little movement, that sign of agitation. Cass is weak. She shouldn't have done that.

The man doesn't move to neutralize her before she might attack though. He just says something to his children. Whatever he says disappoints them, but they’re not unhappy. The Bat is making them go away so she isn't upset.

They leave, and the Bat looks at her. Cass holds perfectly still, waiting for whatever he does next. He doesn't move right away, and it’s starting to make Cass anxious. Is he going to hit her, or make her fight? She got plenty of rest earlier when she got knocked out, and he probably knows that, so he might want her to train. But what he does surprises her.

He takes food from the plate nearby and holds it out to her, sadness colouring his movements. There’s a bit of _pride, accomplishment, happiness,_ there too, and Cass understands none of it.

Cass takes the food from where he had set it down between them, and that makes him happy. He thinks something was done well or went well, but what could that be? 

Cass tucks the food away with the two granola bars she already has. This doesn't make the man happy, and Cass quickly determines that he wanted her to eat it. She takes it out and eats it quickly. The suddenness of the food entering her stomach makes her feel queasy, but she ignores it and watches the man. That just makes more _worried_ show.

Cass is tired. She doesn't understand any of this. She doesn't understand this man, and she doesn't understand his family, and nothing makes sense. What does he even want from her? All he does is be concerned and give her food and be worried. What does he want? Why can't he just...be normal and make sense?

Cass feels like crying, which she ignores angrily. But then the man realizes that she’s tired and upset and overwhelmed, and Cass braces herself...but he softens. He makes his body say _soothing, gentle, safe._ And Cass just wants to cry even more, but she stops herself. No matter how gentle and kind this man is, nobody has ever tolerated such an obvious display of weakness as crying.

He is distracted for a moment when the girl from earlier, the one who also had the Bat on her chest, says goodbye to him. He says goodbye back, and Cass doesn’t want to be able to see more of his feelings for his family. It’s all so overwhelming, and Cass just wishes everyone would _shut up_ , but she can’t unsee things or shut off her sight. And the Bat loves this girl too, she is family, but she isn’t fully _his,_ and Cass doesn’t have a name for that because all she knows is father-and-child and master-and-servant, but even that knowledge fails her because these people are so _different_ and even the ones she has names for don’t make sense, and Cass wishes it would all just _go away!_

The Bat girl has left, and the Bat looks at her with alarm, and distantly, Cass realizes she is pulling on her hair. She is afraid of what he might do, but there is just too much, and Cass can’t really bring herself to care. The Bat is crouching down in front of her. Whatever noise he makes just sounds warped to Cass.

Some time later, she realizes he isn’t there anymore. Even later, he’s back again, and he holds out something to her, waiting for her to take it, and she responds sluggishly. She takes whatever it is, and the feel of it shocks her a little.

Whatever he had given her is like nothing Cass has ever seen before. When she first takes it, it is with a tight grip, and the object squeezes in her hands. When she lets go a little, it doesn’t lose its shape. It’s covered in little stretchy hairs too. Cass stares at it. She takes it in both hands. The rubber hairs are soft and tickle her hands, and when she puts a little pressure on the ball shaped object, it yields. She squeezes it a few times, then runs her hand over the surface.

When she looks back up at the Bat, he’s smiling softly. He is happy and relieved, and still concerned. He wants her to be okay. Cass is still confused. She doesn’t know why he gave her the hairy ball, but she’s grateful for it.

She goes back to exploring the feel of the ball while keeping her eye on him. He watches her patiently, and after a few minutes, when Cass is starting to feel very calm and a little bit sleepy, he waves a hand at her, asking her to come with him. She scrutinizes him, but finds no indication that whatever it is is bad, so she follows carefully.

He leads her up a set of stairs and at the top, they step through a door into a well-lit room. Cass doesn’t know much, but she thinks the items in the room mean it is fancy. The rest of the place is the same. She is led through a few different hallways and up another set of stairs. Then they stop at a door. The man opens the door and leads her inside.

The room has several pieces of furniture, and one of those is a big bed. It looks very soft. Then he hands her a lump of fabric. Cass tries to figure out what it is, and it unfolds and another piece of fabric falls on the ground. Upon closer inspection, Cass realizes they are clothes. Cass looks up at the man, puzzled. What is she supposed to do with these? She has clothes.

He points at her and puts his hands up facing his chest with the fingers spread out. Then he moves them down and out. Cass doesn’t understand what that means. When he realizes that he kind of shrugs, as if he’s dismissing it as unimportant. But then he puts on a serious face.

He goes over to the door and crouches in front of it. He beckons her to come closer. He shows her the doorknob. Then he points to her and points to the doorknob. He turns a little mechanism, then takes hold of the doorknob on the other side and wiggles it. It doesn’t turn. He turns the little mechanism back, then turns the knob on the other side. He swings the door a couple times.

Then he points to her again and turns the mechanism. He puts his hands in front of him in a little wall. He turns the mechanism again, then makes the wall hands again, except this time he swings one like a door. He points to her again, then points down and makes the wall hands in front of where he had pointed. He points to himself, then points down on the other side of the wall hands.

Cass thinks she knows what he’s trying to say. The little turning mechanism keeps the door closed, and it keeps it closed between her and other people. Why is he telling her this? Does he want her to use it? Does he want her to stay inside? Or does he want her to keep others out? Cass doesn’t know, but she thinks she’ll figure it out eventually. 

The man looks like he really wants her to understand what he’s saying, so she gives him a little nod, and he looks satisfied. Then he moves closer to the giant bed. He points at her, then he puts his hand in front of his face and spreads out his fingers while pointing them at his forehead. He moves his hand downwards to his chin and touches his thumb to his fingers while closing his eyes. He’s making an exaggerated sleep face. Then he points to the bed. He...wants her to sleep?

Cass _is_ a little tired, but she's surprised that made him want her to sleep. It’s strange, but Cass climbs onto the bed. Before she can lay down, he pulls back a layer of blankets and gestures for her to get under them. She does and lays down. He puts the blankets down on top of her and smiles at her. He is happy now. She is confused about that, but then he turns off the light and closes the door.

She lays there for a long time. The bed is so strange to Cass. Do people really sleep on beds with this much give? And it has so many blankets too. She can’t sleep there, so eventually she climbs out from under the blankets. She takes one off then crawls under the bed and lays down there. That’s more like the places she is used to sleeping. She falls asleep quickly and sleeps dreamlessly.

* * *

When Bruce closes the door behind himself, he breathes out heavily. That was stressful and tiring. He had nearly panicked when he saw the girl shut down. Thankfully the stress ball had worked. Bruce doesn’t know what he could have done if it hadn’t, especially since he can’t communicate with her very effectively. 

Whatever the reason the girl was like that, someone was going to have to give him some answers. And Bruce knows that he won’t like them, but he’ll have to get them to help her effectively. If there’s someone who is responsible for this, he will be glad to punch them. Multiple times. He sighs again, then goes to find the rest of the kids. If he knows them at all, they haven’t gone to bed like he told them to. That’s alright. He has to talk to them anyway.

He finds them in one of the bathrooms brushing their teeth as if that’s what they’ve been doing the whole time. He knows otherwise, but he just helps them finish getting ready for bed. When they’re done, he gathers them in the nearest bedroom, which happens to be Cullen’s. He says, “We need to talk about that girl.”

Immediately he’s bombarded with, “Who is she?”

“Why doesn’t she talk?’

”Is she okay?”

“Can I play with her?”

“Where did she come from?”

“Why is she scared?”

Bruce stops the questions with a raised hand. “I don’t know anything about her. Just that she needs someone to take care of her. You all need to be careful around her. She probably doesn’t know much about how to be around people, and she is probably scared of a lot of things. I do know that you need to be careful not to touch her unexpectedly and without warning. She might think you’re trying to hurt her.”

There are a couple cries of dismay at that, but Bruce continues, “She won’t understand your words, but it looks like she understands body language.” When Steph asks what that is, he explains, “Your body shows your emotions and your intentions sometimes. Like if you’re really excited and you start bouncing around.”

He adds, “She doesn’t know sign language, but it looks like that might be what she’s able to understand, so I want to teach it to you.”

Dick pipes up, “I already know some!”

“Yes, that’s good. But you have to be able to have conversations with it.”

Tim, already excited, asks, “Can we start learning it now?”

Bruce smiles at him. “It’s late, but how about I teach you three signs before you go to bed?”

Harper agrees for all of them, “Yeah!”

Bruce starts with the sign for “I love you”. He points at himself, then makes his hands into fists and crosses them over his chest, then points at his kids. They copy him eagerly. Then he shows them the short sign, a hand, palm facing out, and the middle and ring fingers folded down. Then he tells the kids goodnight. He puts a flat hand up to his chin then brings it down to bend above his other hand, held flat facing the ground.

After that, he manages to get the kids into bed despite the excitement of the night. He knows they’ll learn sign language quickly. They all pick up languages easily. Dick started teaching Romani to every one of them as soon as they were sure they were staying, and they’ve all learned Spanish. As soon as they found out French is taught in school, they all decided to learn it at home. They are getting pretty good in both Mandarin and Cantonese, and they know a few words and phrases in several other languages. Sign language won’t be difficult for them to learn. It’s the girl that Bruce doesn’t know about. She has a natural advantage in her ability to read people, but a structured language might be difficult for her if she really hasn’t learned any language at all. Bruce will have to buy books.

* * *

In the morning, Cass wakes up and rolls out from under the bed. It is early and the sun is still low in the sky, shining against the closed curtains and filling the room with a faint glow. She hadn't slept through the night. She had slept in fits and starts, waking several times through the night then falling asleep again. Cass yawns and gets her bearings.

Then she decides to train a bit. On the streets, there had been no opportunity to train to keep her abilities sharp. But now, just like when she was under her father, she gets up and begins a routine. She stretches first, then throws herself into the exercise. She goes through every kata and move she knows, and even makes some up, just for the simple pleasure of movement.

She puts everything she has been feeling into those motions. And as she does, she listens to the house begin to wake up around her. By the time she is done, the distant sound of voices can be heard.

Cass is curious. She wants to go see what’s happening, but she still doesn’t know what the man meant about the door. If she does something he doesn’t like, he might punish her. The man keeps saying he won’t hurt her, and Cass doesn’t believe that, but she is getting so very frustrated by her inability to understand this place and these people, and if he’s going to punish her, at least she can give him something to punish her for. The man’s orders were unclear, and the fact that that keeps her stuck here makes Cass just a little angry.

So she opens the door. The hallway outside is empty, and the voices are all clustered together further in the house. Cass follows them. The hallways almost seem endless, but eventually Cass comes up on a room where everybody is gathered. She peeks in from just outside the doorway, careful not to do anything that would tell them that she is here. Despite that, the Bat Man notices immediately. He doesn’t do anything though. He just waits.

Cass decides to wait as well. She’ll wait as long as she has to, until he does something and acknowledges her. She is not going to make the first move, and if he’s going to pretend she isn’t there, she’s going to do the same.

She observes the Bat Man. He’s calm and happy and a little tired. He’s smiling at one of the children. It’s the quiet one. The one from last night that had looked like he was clinging without even doing anything. He’s waving his hands around, looking up at his father with big earnest eyes while he says something. That fills Cass with a feeling of dread, though.

Then the Bat Man reaches for the little boy. Every muscle in Cass’ body tenses, preparing to launch her forward, but she doesn’t move. The boy is happy, leaning into the touch with contentment written all over his body. And the man is...he’s full of _love_ again. And all the other kids are happy too.

But Cass’ heart is beating fast, and her chest feels tight, and she shrinks in on herself, and she just… Something is going to… What if they… He’s going to… 

Cass’ hands go up to her head, but something other than her hands bumps into her head. It’s the hairy ball that the man had given her. She looks at it, turning it over in her hands and squeezing it a few times. Now that she thinks about it, she remembers picking it up before she left the room. She squeezes it a few more times.

After a bit, she goes back to watching the man and his children. Cass is confused. They are so happy, and they’re smiling and raising their voices and talking over one another, and the Bat Man is just...smiling at them. He’s smiling, and adding his own voice, and _touching_ them, and he’s just not doing anything. Is this normal here? Does he not want them to stop, to be quiet and do something, to fight?

Cass watches them. She watches and watches and watches, and she still doesn't understand. But for however much she doesn’t understand, she still finds the love that fills the space beautiful. She creeps a little closer, entranced by it, watching every person carefully, hoping not to miss anything that might help her understand all of this.

Except she’s in the room now, and one by one, they all notice her. The Bat turns around and smiles at her. The smile says _welcome_ . Cass stops. He notices the ball in her hands, and there is recognition in his eyes. Cass is afraid she did something wrong, but there is just _acceptance_ , and a little bit of _pleased_ too. Cass knows she didn't care earlier if she was punished, but right now all she wants is to get this right.

The Bat does those hand signs again. He points at her, then brings his hands in as if he’s pulling something, then moves a hand up as if he’s putting something in his mouth. He does this at the same time as he says something with his mouth, and he has a questioning look on his face. He’s asking a question...something about food?

She tilts her head. He gets up and beckons her closer. She goes, but cautiously, staying just out of arm’s reach. He offers her a flat round thing, and when Cass looks around, there are identical objects placed around the table, and there is food on some of them. She takes it carefully.

The Bat speaks again and makes more hand signs, but these ones, Cass can’t figure out. The youngest girl, the one with brown hair, comes over with her own empty flat round thing, her plate. The man asks her something while pointing to one of the containers of food on the table. The little girl shakes her head no, and the man points to the next container and asks her a question again. She nods her head yes, and the man takes some of the food and puts it on her plate.

Cass watches them. Does the Bat want Cass to repeat the pattern of yes or no? But then one of the boys comes up and they do the same thing, except the boy gives different answers to the questions. Cass looks closer. He’s saying yes when he wants something.

Does the Bat want Cass to do the same? Then the Bat asks the question to Cass. She doesn’t know anything about the food, so she just nods. She does the same for all the kinds of food, which is a lot. At the end, the Bat looks a little confused. Did Cass do something wrong?

But then the confusion goes away, and he nods. He goes to one of the chairs and pulls it away from the table a bit, and gestures for Cass to sit. She doesn’t like it. It’s too close to other people, and it’s not a good position to be in if she has to fight.

Cass frowns at the man, but his expression stays open. She steps to the side, and he doesn’t move, just looks between her and the seat. Then there is understanding. He steps away from the chair and one of the signs he makes is a sweeping gesture to include the whole room.

Cass moves while keeping her eyes on him. Then she lowers herself to the ground in a spot within easy reaching distance of the door. She cautiously picks up some food and takes a bite while watching him.

Then one of the kids says something. Cass has been ignoring the kids since she came in. They are not fighters, and they aren’t aggressive. That’s all she needs to know. She doesn’t need to see them and try to understand them all. She doesn’t want to try to understand it all. But the little boy says something, and the man sighs.

Cass looks over to the boy. He’s the youngest one. He asked something. The man is _exasperated-but-fond_. He says no, but the boy says something else, and the man relents. The boy grins, gets off his chair and very carefully carries his food over to where Cass is sitting. With a look of intense concentration, he sets the plate down on the ground, trying not to tip it.

Then he plops down on the ground and smiles brightly at Cass. He wants to eat with Cass, which is absolutely bewildering. He looks at his food, and then her food. Then he gets up and runs back to the table. He comes back with one of the cups with a lid on it. He presents it to her with a proud smile. Cass takes it curiously.

He smiles at her, but when she doesn’t do anything with it except look at it, he reaches out. Cass freezes, too confused by what he was doing to react. If he was clearly trying to hurt her, she would be able to move, to fight back, but he isn’t and that stops her. He is also tiny. Cass can’t move.

He reaches out, and pushes the cup up towards her mouth, touching her hand in the process. She moves back a bit jerkily. He frowns at her, and she frowns back. Finally, she raises the cup herself. She takes a sip of the drink, and finds it extremely sweet. She almost spits it out, but the little boy grins at her happily, and she doesn’t.

Then Cass notices the Bat Man. He is tense, ready to jump up into defense mode, and the other kids are sensing that and are a bit anxious as well. Cass shrinks in on herself before she realizes that the tension is actually leaving. Whatever the reason he was tense and afraid, it has already come and gone. He smiles softly at his little son and at Cass. Cass can tell it’s because he is proud of his son, but why would he be smiling at Cass too? She goes back to her food.

* * *

Bruce gets his own plate of food and sits down where he can watch everyone. He had known from the beginning that touch would be an issue to watch out for with this girl, just from the way she held herself, so when Cullen had touched her while trying to get her to drink the juice, Bruce had been understandably concerned. But she had seemed more afraid than anything, especially when she had looked at Bruce.

Cullen is trying very hard to be friends with her though, and she seems to be responding well, or at least not responding badly. Bruce can’t help but be proud of him.

Tim decides he wants to sit on the food with the girl, and he goes over to join her and Cullen. Then Jason does the same. Then Harper, and Dick, and Steph. Bruce gives up on getting them to sit at the table, and he joins them a short distance away. The girl watches all this warily, but then she seems to decide that eating is more important. Bruce notices that she eats with her hands, and she eats quickly. Bruce is worried that she’ll end up throwing it all back up, especially considering the size of the pile of food on her plate.

But then she pauses. Alfred has just entered the room, and Crystal is behind him. Bruce had forgotten that the day is Saturday. Crystal was supposed to pick Steph up this morning. Steph has a piano lesson, and Crystal is here to get her and drive her there. Since Crystal got out of rehab, Steph has been spending a few days of the week at the Manor, and the rest at home with her mother. They’ve mostly arranged the informal schedule around Steph’s school and extracurriculars. Bruce will pick Steph up from school with the other kids on Wednesday.

Crystal takes in the scene, including everybody eating on the floor and the strange girl, with an amused tilt to her lips. She doesn’t ask though. When Steph goes over to Bruce to give him a hug before she leaves, the girl flinches, but Bruce can also see that she is curious.

Crystal and Steph leave, but not before Steph gives a cheery goodbye and the girl has a chance to observe Crystal. After they leave, everyone goes back to eating. Bruce keeps a close eye on the girl though, watching for any sign that she has had enough to eat in case she doesn’t stop on her own. Bruce also makes a mental note to dig up any little toys similar to the stress ball, and also to get her into clean clothes.

When the girl looks full, but doesn’t stop eating, Bruce stands up to draw her attention to him so she pauses eating. She watches him, probably trying to figure out what he’s doing, since she can likely see that getting the newspaper from the table isn’t the actual reason he got up. But by the time he sits back down, Alfred has taken advantage of her distraction to take her plate. She doesn’t look upset or surprised, which Bruce thinks could mean she’s used to having her food be controlled.

Later, Bruce, with some help from Alfred, manages to get the girl to shower, and while she does so, they switch out her clothes for a variety of clean ones. When she goes to get dressed, the first thing she picks up is a soft sweater, and she doesn’t let go of it. Bruce lets her wear it, and gets her some pants too. When Bruce gives her a bunch of small toys, she latches on to a small fluffy stuffed penguin, but she keeps the stress ball too.

For the rest of the day, she lurks around the family, never engaging with them. She just watches silently in the background. It’s a bit similar to how stray cats are skittish and distant, but sometimes come close enough for you to feed them. Bruce decides that the best approach to language is to speak and sign at the same time. If she is constantly exposed to the language, it will help her learn it faster, and she might be able to connect signs with words if Bruce is speaking at the same time. It will also help the other kids learn it. 

Of course, Bruce will have to look for books on...a lot of things. This is not going to be easy. And then he realizes he forgot something pretty important. Barbara comes to the Cave before they are due to start patrol, riding the bike she has hidden near her house. She asks about how the girl is doing, and Bruce tells her. Then she asks, “Did you find out what her name is?”

Bruce answers, “No. I’m mostly sure she came from the League of Assassins though.”

“That’s not good. What are you calling her though?”

Bruce pauses.

“B! Please tell me you’re not just calling her “the girl’.”

Bruce doesn’t answer. 

“Bruce! She needs a name.”

Bruce looks at her. “I didn’t think of that. Maybe you could give her a name?”

Barbara looks stunned. “Me? Uh, okay. I’ll...think about it.”

Bruce nods and gives her a small smile. Then, while they are prepping for patrol, the kids come down. The still unnamed girl trails after them, watching Bruce and Barbara especially closely. Barbara asks Bruce, “She still hasn’t spoken?”

“No. It’s starting to look like she can’t.”

“Or she can, and we just don’t understand.”

Bruce hums, and then Barbara gets a thoughtful look on her face. She watches the little girl pensively. Then she says, “Cassandra. Her name should be Cassandra.”

Bruce looks over to her in surprise. “The prophet who wasn’t believed?”

“It fits.” Barbara says. “Right now there is a huge communication barrier between her and everyone else. And it looks like she might always be on a different wavelength than everyone else.”

“It’s a heavy name.”

Barbara looks over to her. There is a scar over one of her eyebrows that can be seen from several feet away and that never fails to make Bruce angry and sad. “She’s a strong girl.” Barbara says.

“She is.” Bruce agrees. He’s quiet for a moment. “Cassandra.” he says, testing out the name. “Cass. I like it.”

Barbara returns his smile of approval, and it’s settled.

Then, in the middle of patrol, Bruce remembers the dog. He can’t believe he forgot about Ace. Ace is currently at the Kent farm, since last week when he got in the way of some sort of radiation that essentially made him a speedster dog. He had way too much energy to stay at the Manor, so Clark offered to take him to his parents’ farm. Bruce is glad he at least remembered in time. He isn’t sure how Cass would react to a fairly large dog, but he doesn’t want to find out when the dog appears suddenly. Maybe he’ll ask the Kents to keep him for a bit longer after the effects of the radiation have worn off so Cass can adjust without another change.

The next day, they run into a problem when they try to get Cass to change into new clothes. She refuses to relinquish her soft sweater, and they have to trade her for it. They give her a bunch more soft clothes so that she’ll give up the ones she has on. It makes Bruce ridiculously happy though to see this little scarred hollow-cheeked skittish waif of a girl drowning in fluffy soft colourful clothing. 

Cass is slowly starting to look like she’s getting used to everybody too. By the end of the week, it looks like she’s even starting to recognize the sound of her name. And occasionally, when someone signs to her, she’ll repeat a sign or two back to them. She looks like she’s perpetually confused though.

Then Batman runs into Lady Shiva. The assassin greets him with, “Rumor has it you had a fight with a little girl last week.”

Batman is impassive.

When she sees he isn't going to say anything to that, she adds, “And David Cain wants his daughter back.”

A corner of Bruce’s lips twists into a snarl. He knew Cain was involved somehow. “David Cain has no claim on that girl. If anyone wants her, they’ll have to go through me.”

“And that is the only reason he has not come for her himself. But the child is his. He has spent years training her, teaching her only the language of the body, and shaping her into the perfect weapon for Ra’s al Ghul. They call her “The One Who Is All”. He fathered her as part of a pact with me, and has raised her since. You deny that she belongs to him?” 

There is nothing in her tone except vague curiosity. Batman takes the new information in stride and responds, “She is a child. Not a weapon. And if David Cain is determined to see her that way, well she managed to escape from him. I think that might be an indication she is a weapon too powerful for him to handle.”

“And you believe you can handle her?”

“I believe she does not need to be _handled_.”

“You do have the tendency to take other’s children with the belief you know what is best for them, don't you? Willis wasn't happy that someone adopted his son.”

Batman asks, “You know Willis Todd?”

Shiva responds, “We are...acquaintances. I must admit, I wanted to come here to assess the girl’s abilities. She would be a fine opponent.”

Batman knows about how Lady Shiva searches out the best fighters and demands that they fight her to the death. Many even consider it an honor to die by her hand. Of course she heard about Cassandra. Instantly on high alert, he nearly growls, “No. I will not have you involving Cassandra in your messed up death wish. Leave.” 

“So you have given the child a name.” Shiva says, amused. “She was born of two assassins. She has been trained since birth. She will not be able to deny her destiny.”

“Neither you, nor David Cain, nor destiny has any say in who she will be.”

“Perhaps it is not a matter of destiny and who she will be in the future. She has killed already. Are you certain she is fit to be a child of Batman?”

Those words punch a hole in Bruce’s heart, though not for the reasons Shiva is suggesting. He had figured that Cass has received training of the lethal kind, but he had hoped for her sake that it hadn't progressed that far. He repeats, “She is under my protection. She does not belong to the League or David Cain or you.”

“You will not yield on this matter.” 

It is not a question, and Batman doesn’t say anything in response. Lady Shiva says, “I did not think you would.”

“Then why are you here?” Bruce asks shortly. 

“Curiosity perhaps.” Shiva answers. “But that girl cannot simply forget what Cain has instilled in her. Perhaps training from Batman himself will hone her skills.”

As she steps away, she adds, “I will be here.”

Bruce glowers as she slips away. He doesn’t bother calling after Lady Shiva, but he promises himself he will do whatever it takes to keep Cass away from Shiva. He may not be able to protect her from what has already happened, but he can protect her from this.

Now having confirmation of what he already suspected had happened to Cass, he goes home even more determined to help her.

* * *

Cass continues to observe the Bat Man and his family while keeping her distance. She still doesn’t understand them, but she thinks she could get used to them. Their mannerisms, their habits, and their way of life are easy to learn. The children and their father often greet each other with hugs. They are very familiar with each other. The children don’t all call their father the same name, but each name means the same thing. The children are still learning to hand talk, but they are very eager to learn it. They usually try to make sure Cass is okay with it before they come close to her. They have routines, group activities and customs that are strange to Cass but that she quickly adapts to.

Their minds, however, still baffle Cass. She doesn’t know why the children don’t fight. She doesn’t know why Bat Dad loves his children so much. She doesn’t know why they are so cautious around her, so careful not to hurt her or each other. 

But she understands. She understands the feelings they show, but she doesn’t know why they show them. Isn’t it odd to show those things, those tender, loving feelings? Have they not been punished for it? Why are they _allowed_ to love?

It scares her. It makes her constantly afraid, and she can’t help being on edge when she sees them being so affectionate with each other. She refuses to think about it though. It just brings up memories of her father, and that makes her afraid too.

She also refuses to think about why they make her afraid. Instead, she just keeps watching the people she is now living with. They keep talking with their hands, and they talk _to_ Cass. It’s strange. Cass didn’t know people could talk with their hands, and she never thought they would ever talk to _her_. They even talk as if they want her to talk back. Bat Dad in particular acts very happy whenever she mimics signs.

One day, after a while of watching everyone and trying to connect signs to meanings, Cass goes up to him. She carefully signs, _“I want book.”_

Dad is surprised. Was she not supposed to ask for that? She saw the other kids with those blocks of paper, but Cass had never been given one. She had been given or offered pretty much everything else that the other kids had, but maybe she wasn’t supposed to have that? 

Except now Dad is happy too. There is approval and pride and something else that looks like love, but that can’t be love, because he doesn’t love Cass. Why would he? Either way, he is showing agreement, and he goes and gets a book.

When he gives it to her, she takes it and opens it. It is just a bunch of papers with squiggles and pictures. She doesn’t know what the squiggles are for, but the pictures are pretty. She looks at all the pictures in the book. When the other children look at books, there is understanding, as if the book is talking to them. Cass doesn’t know why the books talk to them. The pictures are nice, but they don’t say much. There would be a lot more being said if they were real-life pictures and not drawings, but the pictures are pretty anyways. She doesn’t really know what else she’s supposed to do with the book though.

Then Dad comes closer and flips some of the book’s papers. He starts talking, as if he’s repeating something someone else is saying. Then he starts signing at the same time, and Cass can understand a bit more. Except that doesn’t actually help her, because the things he’s saying make no sense. There is no context, it just looks like random thoughts. Sometimes what he says matches up to the pictures, but Cass still doesn’t understand much. She eventually decides that Dad must be repeating what the book is saying. Cass likes watching him though. Whatever the book is saying seems nice. Dad looks happy.

So Cass brings him the book a few times a day, and he tells her what the book says. It stays the same every time, and slowly, Cass figures out what it’s saying. The book talks about a person who is lost and alone. Then the person finds a family who loves him. Sometimes he makes mistakes, but he is never hurt because of that. He just learns not to make that mistake.

Cass likes that. It sounds nice, and she hopes that person’s family hasn’t died. Maybe she could find them and make sure? She would if she knew where to start.

Then she discovers that if she brings Dad a different book, it will say something different. A lot of the books talk about people and their families. One of them talks about a girl whose parents died. Cass doesn’t like this. She tells Dad, _“Help. Stop mom dad die.”_

It takes him a bit to understand what she means. He says, _“We cannot change the mom and dad dying.”_

She shakes her head. _“Person make dead. Find person.”_

He looks a little bit confused. _“We cannot find the person. They do not exist.”_

_“Why?”_

_“The book is not real. It came from somebody’s head. It is imaginary.”_

Cass doesn’t understand what that means. Then he says, _“Like a dream.”_

That makes a bit more sense, but why would someone tell a dream? It’s confusing, but Cass keeps bringing Dad books. Maybe eventually she’ll figure it out.

* * *

Bruce is proud of Cass. She’s learning sign language well, which means it’s easier to communicate with her. She is also starting to be more open. She is actually expressing herself now, which includes communicating her needs and desires, which is huge progress. She gets stuck on a lot of things, but Bruce isn’t expecting progress to happen overnight. It seems helpful though, for her to be around other kids. She seems to be learning from the way they act, which is helping her adapt.

One day, Alfred makes hot chocolate for the kids. Of course, they are all excited. Except for Cass. she has never had hot chocolate, so this will be her first time trying it. Bruce doesn’t know if she’ll like it, since she doesn’t seem to like overly-sweet things like juice, but she likes sweet things better than other foods, if it is at a level she can handle.. 

So Bruce watches Cass try the hot chocolate. She takes her first sip very cautiously. Then she wrinkles her nose slightly as she processes the taste. Bruce smiles. Alfred had made the drink less sweet for her, because they know Cass isn’t used to sweet things.

After that first sip, Cass drinks more confidently, and she seems to be enjoying the creamy taste of the drink. She starts swinging her legs with pleasure as she gradually finishes the drink. Her legs are dangling from the chair, since she is dwarfed almost comically by it. She had had to climb the bars to sit on it. Bruce watches those little legs swing back and forth, pleased by the indication that Cass feels safe enough here for those unconscious actions.

Then Cass glances up, and sees him looking at her. She pauses for a millisecond, and then she realizes he was watching her legs.

She freezes. Her eyes widen, and suddenly she’s off the chair and on her knees in front of Bruce. Her eyes track something that isn’t there, and her muscles are tensed up and wired, expectant. She flinches repeatedly, and she is trembling, but still her limbs do not move.

Bruce recognizes this as a flashback. He doesn’t know if he should touch her. Touch is still hit-or-miss with her. Speaking might work. “Cassandra.” he says, his voice low and steady, firm and clear and gentle all at once. “Cass. You’re alright. You’re not there. You’re safe.”

* * *

_Cass stands in front of a defeated foe. Her father’s eyes are showing approval, and Cass is happy. She starts waving her hands around, the way she once saw someone do while they were talking and they were happy and excited. She very nearly smiles at her father._

_But his face abruptly turns to displeasure. He grabs her hands and yanks her forward and she lands on her knees in front of him. He glares at her, and she holds perfectly still, preparing herself for the punishment._

_It hurts._

_He hits her, over and over again, and she has to work to keep still, and somewhere, she can hear someone’s voice, low and urgent._

_But that’s not right. Who would be speaking? Her father does not speak to her. Something isn’t right._

_That’s not how this went._

The pain of her punishment fades in and out. She isn’t sure if it’s really happening.

She shakes, and her hand comes up to sign “sorry” repeatedly. 

Oh, that’s right. She knows how to speak now. Her hands fumble with the shapes of “no” and “sorry” and “please”, and she can feel her fingers bumping together and her hands hitting her chest.

The voice repeats, and her eyes flutter open. She hadn’t even realized she had closed them.

Dad is in front of her, and he is _worried worried worried_ and _angry but not at her_ and _sad_. He wants her to be alright, and he wants to comfort her. He wants to be able to physically comfort her.

Cass has never known touch to mean anything but hurt, but this family keeps doing it, and it is never to hurt. And Cass may never let them that close to her, but those touches are always _love_.

And Cass is shaking, and she can feel tears welling up, and her father used to hurt her, and she was afraid Dad would hurt her too, but he isn’t. He never will.

She throws herself into Dad’s arms and cries.

He wraps his arms around her, putting his hand on her head and murmuring soothing things. 

Cass is safe.

**Author's Note:**

> So that's the fic! Cass obviously still has a long way to go, but this was getting too long, so I will be continuing her story in other fics.
> 
> I hope you liked it. Leave a comment and tell me what you think. Did you like my characterization? What was your favourite part? What could use some work? Just how much do you love baby Cass?


End file.
